Chapter One

Dream

The night was quiet…Sasori and his partner Deidara were camping out in the forest, traveling back to headquarters after their mission had been completed. The blonde was lying on the floor, snuggled close to the fire, sleeping…

The redhead was still wide awake, his eyes staring boredly at the glistening lights above him. The moon was breathtaking tonight, yet he was not interested. Although it was beautiful, the moon would not stay in the sky forever, it would just "disappear" and the sun will rise and take its place in the morning. It was not "true" beauty. Breathing in deeply and then exhaling, he closed his eyes. Drifting into a deep slumber…

Sasori wandered through the empty path. Series of never-ending trees greeted him with every step. There were no stars, only the full moon, shining down on him tauntingly. "When is this trail going to end!? I'm getting impatient." He yelled in frustration. Of course, there was no response. He was alone. And he hated to be alone…almost more than he hated to wait.

A soft breeze led his crimson hair in every direction. "If you wish not to be alone, follow the moon… let it lead you to the right direction." It whispered in his ear. Sasori replied with a simple, "What do you mean?"

Before it can answer, he felt a repeating nudge on his left shoulder. "Sasori. Master Sasori, hm!"

The redhead groggily opened his eyes. His surroundings were blurred but then focused onto a certain blonde. "Deidara…" He grumbled bitterly. "You're finally awake, hm!" Deidara exclaimed. "How long was I resting?" The puppeteer asked, rubbing his eyes. "Hm? Well, when I woke up you were asleep, so I don't know. It's about 6-7 o' clock in the morning."

Upon hearing that, Sasori stood up from his spot quickly. "Let's go brat, we don't want to keep Leader waiting…" The blonde pouted, "Without eating breakfast!?"

Ugh, he just woke up and he was already irritated at his partner. Without answering, he brought out his scroll, and summoned one of his favourite puppets, Hiruko. He quickly got inside. "We'll find a Dango shop in the way or something. Just get ready so we can go already!"

The blond hesitated, but then followed the puppeteer reluctantly. The hideout wasn't far off, only a couple hours away. But he hoped to be able to get there sooner. Then, Sasori remembered the dream. "Follow the moon…let it lead you to the right direction…" Those words repeated in his head, over and over…the redhead gritted his teeth. "Bullshit, I don't believe in that sentimental crap!" To him, the dream meant nothing. It was worthless. Only weak and pathetic people believed in those things.

"Master Sasori, hm?" Deidara said, interrupting his thoughts. "What is it?" Hiruko's head turned to his partner, bloodshot, and full of rage. The blonde hesitated to reply, and shifted his head slightly to his right. "I'm hungry…" Deidara mumbled…

The puppeteer sighed in frustration, "Fine, let's go find some food…"

After a couple of minutes, they stopped at a nearby Dango shop. Deidara joyfully ordered 5 sticks of dango, gobbling them down like a hungry pack of wolves. The waitress had come over and offered to bring some food for the hidden puppeteer, but he replied with a bitter, "No…" The women almost trembled with fear at the sight of Hiruko; she left and never bothered Sasori again. "You know, Master Sasori, you should be more kind towards others, hm…"

The redhead narrowed his eyes, "What's the point doing such things? It's stupid and a waste of time."

Deidara chuckled, "Well that's how people get friends, you should start socializing more, hm. And maybe get out of that puppet more, you'll probably attract more women that way."

Oh that was so it. The puppeteer brought out his scorpion tail and swung it at his partner with rapid speed. Unfortunately, for him, the blonde dodged just in time. "Ok ok, be that way, hm." "Damn that brat, always disrespecting his superiors."

Deidara at his last dango quickly and arose from the bench. He stretched his arms out to the sky. "Alright! Let's go Sasori, my man!" The blonde dashed towards the direction of the hideout, leaving the redhead behind. "Tch, who died and made you leader…?" He followed soon after.

-

They have finally arrived at the hidden hideout. It was hiding between four tall trees, their branches blocking entry to the cave. There was a paper seal on one of the branches to prevent anyone from trespassing. With a single hand sign, the branches moved upwards forming an arch above the two, revealing a pitch black cavern.

As they walked in, they see a silhouette in the background. He was the leader of Akatsuki, also known as "Pein."

"Sasori, Deidara, welcome back. Have you completed your mission?" Both nodded yes. Sasori reaches into his sleeve and brings out a small scroll. The kanji was written in the characters that said, "Forbidden." He hands the scroll to their leader, "The village is less known to other countries, and it lacks the amount of shinobi, so infiltrating the place and stealing the scroll was child's play."

"Good job, this forbidden scroll of Healing Jutsu will be very helpful to use if one of our members is in need of medical attention."

"So that's it then? We can have a break, hm?" Pein merely shook his head. "Sorry for sending you places here and there, but since the rest of the Akatsuki are busy with their assignments, I have to assign the two of you to the new mission."

Deidara was disheartened, he was exhausted and he really needed a break. The blonde sighed, "So what is it this time, hm?"

"You are to recruit a kunoichi from the Hidden Sand Village. She goes by the name, "Mitsuki". Unfortunately, the Leaf Village and Sand Village have noticed that we have been very active these past few months. I want you to approach her without causing a ruckus, kill anyone who gets in your way." "Ugh, I joined Akatsuki to get away from Sunagakure, not to come back there like every month." The redhead thought.

"Eh? We're getting a new member, hm!? Whatever for?" Deidara said, stunned. Sasori nodded in agreement, "I don't see why we need a new member, we have enough people around." The redhead flashed his eyes towards his partner; he certainly didn't want a new member here, especially if this person was obnoxious and immature like his blasted partner.

"She has special powers, it is rumoured that she can predict the future, and she is highly skilled. This will be very useful for us to plan ahead for any upcoming missions."

"Ok ok, we'll bring her here, hm." The blonde said. "Sasori, when she arrives, I want you to observe her for an amount of time… If she does not live up to her expectations, I'll give you further instructions."

Yes, a way he can get rid of her. "Yes Master Pein…" Luckily, the redhead was in Hiruko, otherwise Pein would see the little grin on his face. If she screws up, there will be one more human puppet in his collecting, bumping it up to 299 puppets.

"You may rest now. You will leave here tomorrow." And with nothing more to say, their leader's hologram fades away in an instant.

Deidara stretched his arms out and yawned, "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow Master Sasori, hm." The blonde headed towards his room without letting the puppeteer reply. Good riddance. The redhead can finally be alone and remodel his puppets for tomorrow.

Sasori arrives in his room. It was plain, a room colored beige, a never-used bed on the right side. In the back of the room was a wooden desk in front of a small window. Puppetry tools were scattered on that table, with a lamp on the side. There was a door leading to a bathroom and a closet of course, but the puppeteer barely used it unless he had to change clothes or see what kind of parts he had to replace on his "puppet" body.

The most distinctive part of the room was that puppets were displayed on the walls; he liked to view his "art", though to most, they would find it creepy.

Sasori went out of his "shell" and laid Hiruko on the floor so he could check on him later, to see if it needed any parts replaced. "I wonder what type of person this, "Mitsuki" is…" Whoever she is, he hoped she is worth making into a puppet. The redhead chuckled thinking about increasing his puppet collection. He sat down on his desk to prepare for tomorrow's mission…

-

The puppeteer was well prepared; he had checked his equipment over three times. The redhead looked out the window; the sun's rays greeted him in the horizon.

It's about the time that we should be waking up. Sasori rose out from his desk's chair and headed out the door to "greet" his partner.

The redhead sighed when he reached Deidara's door, I wonder how long it's going to take to get the brat out of bed THIS time? Sasori knocked lightly on the door, but enough for the blonde to hear, "Oi brat, it's time to get up!" There was no response, and in a couple moments the "gentle" knocking turned into violent poundings. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF BED RIGHT NOW OR I'LL BREAK THE DOOR DOWN!!!"

There was no response in words, but the cranky "old man" heard a quiet groan and the light sounds of the blonde's feet on the ground. "Ok ok I'm up, hm."

The blonde groggily opened the door and stared at his partner's furious and intense eyes. Though, deep down Deidara can see a hint of sadness, loneliness, and despair in those dark brown orbs of his master. "You little shit, next time you make me wait that long I'm going to tear you to shreds. You know how much I-"

The clay maker yawned, interrupting the redhead's sentence, "Yeah yeah, I know how much you hate to wait, hm."

Sasori gritted his teeth, "Never interrupt me when I am talking to you!"

The blonde was taken back, "Ehehe, sorry my man, I won't do it again! But there's no need to be so critical verbally, hm."

The redhead did nothing but scowl at his partner, such irresponsibility. Though it can't be helped, their leader made them partners, and hell knows why. "I'm going to give you 30 minutes to prepare, make me wait more than that and you'll be a dead man." Sasori said, glaring down (or should I say up, considering their height difference is an inch) at his partner. Deidara gulped at dismay, "Y-yes Master Sasori." And with that, the blonde went off to prepare anything needed for their mission. Usually, Deidara didn't fear his own superiors, but there are times when Sasori would scare the living crap out of him.

After no more than 30 minutes, the two set off to Sunagakure no Sato, or to translate it in english, "The Village Hidden in the Sand."

-

After hours of traveling, they see the village at the distance. "Finally we're here, hm!" The pair paused as another gust of sand and wind pushed against them. "So my man, do we have to disguise ourselves for this mission, hm?"

The puppeteer paused in Hiruko for a brief moment to think. "Yes, we will disguise ourselves as "common people" visiting a couple "friends" of ours. When we find out the area the girl is in, we will knock her out when she is off guard and bring her to the lair."

"That's a pretty simple and straightforward plan, but I'm not complaining, hm." Deidara replied.

"If she's as good as Leader says she is, she is most likely an outcast, which will be easier to bring her in as many people might fear her." Sasori retorted.

"That sounds similar to what you probably experienced, my man, hm."

"Deidara…" Sasori grumbled, "Yes Master Sasori?"

"Shut up!" The puppeteer snapped.

After saying that, the rest of the trip to the entrance of Sunagakure went in silence. It wasn't hard to get in, considering Sasori knew the limits of the sand ninja that were honed from the village. It also wasn't hard to locate where the girl, "Mitsuki", lived. She was known by numerous of people, though as Sasori predicted, she was an outcast that lived in the outskirts of the village. She didn't have social contact with people often, which made it easier for her to capture.

-

Mitsuki wasn't your average kunoichi. Her parents died of an unknown death when she was only 5. She could not even remember what they looked like, though she didn't mind. If she had any memories of them, she would have suffered more pain when she lost them than when she didn't remember. Though it makes her heart ache to think that she never could remember any moments with her family, not a thing.

Because of her parent's unknown death, many assumed that she murdered them, so she was rejected by many people in her life, and even more people did so when they had learned she could predict the future. Her grandmother was the only family member she had shared any memories with. She looked after her, protected her. Her grandmother honed her skills and taught her the ways of the shinobi. Though her grandmother teaching her alone was not enough, she enrolled her to the academy, where she spent years in, practicing and improving her skills.

She lacked much social contact from her peers because of their parent's influence on them. Though even if she didn't have any friends, her social skills were exceptionally high. Mitsuki didn't mind, things were better this way, she convinced herself. The less people who were close to her, the less pain she would suffer. Though she couldn't help but envy the people living happy lives, when her life was a living hell. When Mitsuki turned 15, her grandmother died, from murder. When she faced the man who had killed the only person who cared about her, her mind blanked out in the full moon. The sand stained crimson and the moon did not ever shine as bright as it did before. That night, that accursed night, Mitsuki made a decision. Never again will she suffer this pain; never again will she let anyone be close to her as her grandmother was, and never again was she going to murder the person who had destroyed her very world.

-

Mitsuki stared out the window, the sun's rays hitting her eyes. She had a vision that night, two men, walking towards the desert, wearing black cloaks with red clouds. Because of living in the outskirts of the city, she did not recognize who the two men were. But she knew one thing, they were after her. She won't struggle; she got bored of this place anyway, living the same routine each and every day for the past 3 years.

Birds greeted her on the windowsill, chirping their happy tunes. Although her past and way of thinking makes her seem ruthless and cold, it is only her outwards appearance, on the inside she is quite the opposite, having a gentle nature and always concerned for others. In truth, what she had always wanted was someone to look past the mask she wore, and break down the walls she held and get to know her for what she really is. Though that was almost impossible, nobody would ever understand what she's been through, let alone talk to her. Yet she had hope. What she couldn't predict was the certain someone that she was hoping for was coming to set her free, though not in the pace you'd usually suspect.

Mitsuki brought out her katana and polished it near the window, listening to what the bird's lovely tune. The window was pretty wide; so many people could see the inside of her house from the outside. She didn't mind, it was as if she wanted people to see her.

Two silhouettes were lurking in the shadows, watching her every move. Though, they didn't know that she had already detected their presence.

"Hey Master Sasori." Deidara said.

The puppeteer sighed, "What is it now, brat?"

"I think I know why she is called "Beautiful Moon", hm…"

-

I'm sorry; this was such a lame chapter, though I tried to make it as interesting as possible. Though this was fun to write.

Mitsuki's appearance will be explained next chapter, so please don't get a headache trying to come up with what she looks like… xD

Personally, I usually like reading stories where the romance starts quicker in the story, but that would make it boring. I am also planning this to be a longer story, because I love long stories….x3

I tried making the characters fit their personalities as much as I could, but alas, I am not Masashi Kishimoto himself, so I cannot make them act as what he would make them do. It probably will be slight, a little, or maybe some parts of this story will have OOC….

I'm not the type who goes like, 40 reviews till next chap, but please review, I have low self esteem and I might lose confidence to continue the story…xD

Though I will post the next chapter soon because this one is boring considering this is the beginning.

I hope you enjoyed! //_^ Forgive any typos, etc.

Any nice criticism is accepted, it might or will help me improve… :)